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Matson, Inc.

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Matson, Inc., is an American shipping and navigation services company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1882,[2] Matson, Inc.'s subsidiary Matson Navigation Company provides ocean shipping services across the Pacific to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia, the South Pacific, China, and Japan.

Matson, Inc.
Company typePublic
IndustryShipping, navigation
FoundedApril 10, 1882; 142 years ago (1882-04-10) (as Matson Navigation Company)
HeadquartersHonolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Area served
United States
Key people
Matthew J. Cox (Chairman and CEO)
RevenueDecrease US$3.09 billion (2023)
Decrease US$343 million (2023)
Decrease US$297 million (2023)
Total assetsDecrease US$4.29 billion (2023)
Total equityIncrease US$2.40 billion (2023)
Number of employees
4,315 (2023)
Websitematson.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
Maritime flag of Matson, Inc.

History

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William Matson (1849–1917) founded Matson Navigation Company. He was born in Lysekil in Västra Götaland County, Sweden, and orphaned during childhood. He arrived in San Francisco after a trip around Cape Horn in 1867. Working aboard the Dickel family yacht, he struck up a friendship with tycoon Claus Spreckels, who financed many of Matson's new ships. In 1882, he sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina into the Hilo Bay of the Hawaiian Islands.[3][4]

The enterprise began in the carrying of merchandise, especially of plantation stores, to the islands and returning with cargoes of sugar, later expanding interests at each end of the line.[5]

In 1924, Matson completed the Matson Building, designed by Bliss and Faville, at 215 Market Street in San Francisco, and noted as "one of a series of Chicago School skyscrapers built during the 1910s and 1920s which give San Francisco its downtown character."[6] It featured an observation tower and cupola at the northern corner of the building that enabled company executives to see its ships coming through the Golden Gate. The company later sold the building to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, whose general office was next door at 245 Market. PG&E has incorporated the former Matson Building into its general office complex, keeping Matson-specific details such as elevator doors with detailed maps of Hawaii on them.

For a brief period after World War II, Matson operated an airline using Douglas DC-4 aircraft between the Pacific Coast and Hawaii. The airline ultimately ceased operations because of political pressure from Pan American World Airways, which resulted in inability to obtain federal government scheduled operating authority.

On December 1, 2011, Matson's then-parent company Alexander & Baldwin announced that its board of directors approved a plan to split A&B and Matson into two separate companies. As part of the plan, Matson would leave Oakland, California, to become a Honolulu-based company. The two companies are now traded separately.[7]

In 2015, Matson, Inc., acquired Horizon Lines, formerly its main competitor in the United States domestic market, for $469 million.[8]

 
Historical image from Matson Lines promoting their Hawaiian hotels

Joining two Aloha-class freighter sister ships delivered to Matson in 2018 and 2019; in November 2022, the company again contracted Philly Shipyard to build three new 3,600 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) Jones Act-compliant container ships at a cost of $1 billion.[9][10][11]

Passenger ships

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SS Lurline 1930s
 
The SS Monterey

Primarily a conveyor of freight; from 1908 on, Matson introduced into service a number of passenger liners to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist trade.[12] In 1926, following the death of its founder, John D. Spreckels whose father, Claus Spreckels, had been Matson's earliest financier;[13] Matson took over the Oceanic Steamship Company (Spreckels Line),[14] operating three trans-Pacific liners, including the SS Sonoma.

From the early 20th century through the 1970s, Matson liners sailed from the west coast ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles to Honolulu and points beyond, including a handful of South Pacific ports of call as well as Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. Two of their earlier cargo liners, Maui and Wilhelmina, were the first passenger ships to place their engines aft.

Among the "white ships of Matson" were Malolo (rechristened Matsonia), Lurline, Mariposa, and Monterey.[15] With the advent and expansion of routine air travel between the mainland and the islands, Matson's passenger service was greatly diminished, and the liners were eventually retired from trans-Pacific service and virtually gone by the end of the 1970s.[16]

Hotels

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In 1925, Matson acquired a controlling interest in the historic Moana Hotel on Waikiki on the island of Oahu. They constructed the nearby Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927. In 1952, they built the SurfRider Hotel (today a wing of the Moana), followed by the Princess Kaiulani Hotel in 1955. They sold the four properties to Sheraton Hotels in 1959.

Current fleet

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Matson's current cargo fleet of U.S.-flagged vessels include:[17]

  • Anchorage / Kodiak / Tacoma (sister ships)
  • Daniel K. Inouye / Kaimana Hila (sister ships - Aloha Class)[1]
  • Imua II / Liloa II (sister ships)
  • Kamokuiki
  • Lihue
  • Lurline / Matsonia (sister ships - Kanaloa Class)[2]
  • Manoa / Mahimahi (C9 sister ships)
  • Manulani / Maunawili / Manukai (sister ships)[18]
  • Maunalei[19]
  • Mokihana (C9 with garage conversion)
  • Papa Mau
  • R.J. Pfeiffer
  • Haleakala
  • Mauna Loa
  • Waialeale

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 23, 2024.
  2. ^ "Company profile Matson, Inc". Businessweek. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. ^ Middlemiss, Norman (November 9, 2018). "Matson Lines The Hawaiian Shipping Company". shippingtandy.com. Shipping News Today and Yesterday. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Matson Orders Three More Panamax LNG Boxships From Philly Shipyard". maritime-executive.com. The Maritime Executive. November 2, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  5. ^ "William Matson & Lurline Matson Roth". cypresslawnheritagefoundation.org. Cypress Lawn Heritage Museum. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  6. ^ "Matson Lines Building, South of Market, San Francisco, CA". pcad.lib.washington.edu. Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  7. ^ Alexander & Baldwin to split into 2 publicly traded companies Honolulu Star-Advertiser
  8. ^ Schwing, Emily (5 June 2015). "With Matson acquisition final, Horizon Lines no longer exists". KTOO. Juneau, United States. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  9. ^ Segal, Dave (November 3, 2022). "Matson Inc. to buy 3 vessels totaling $1 billion; profit falls". Star Advertiser. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  10. ^ "Matson Orders Three LNG-fueled Containerships from Philly Shipyard". MarineLink.com. Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. November 2, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  11. ^ "Matson Orders Three More Panamax LNG Boxships From Philly Shipyard". maritime-executive.com. The Maritime Executive. November 2, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  12. ^ "YACHT LURLINE FIRST IN PORT". Los Angeles Herald, Volume 35, Number 291. July 19, 1908.
  13. ^ Pacific Marine Review, August 1922, A.J. Dickie & F. A. Stanley, eds. “Fifty Years of Struggle” Staff pp. 466-469. Accessed April 6, 2023.
  14. ^ "American Merchant Marine at War". USMM.org. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  15. ^ O'Brien, Duncan, 1967- (October 2014). The grand manner of Matson. Victoria, B.C., Canada. ISBN 978-0-9686734-3-0. OCLC 881138788.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "History of the Matson Fleet". Matson Navigation Company.
  17. ^ "Matson's Fleet". MATSON. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  18. ^ "2600 Class Data Sheet" (PDF). PhillyShip Shipyard. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  19. ^ "2500 Class Data Sheet" (PDF). PhillyShip Shipyard. Retrieved 2023-03-23.

Further reading

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  • Cushing, John E (1951). Captain William Matson (1849–1917): From Handy Boy to Shipowner. New York: Newcomen Society in North America. OCLC 654333478.
  • O'Brien, Duncan (2008). The White Ships: Matson Line to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia Via Samoa, Fiji, 1927–1978. Pier 19 Media. ISBN 978-0-968-67341-6.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matson, Inc..
  • Official website
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  • The last ocean liners of Matson lines
  • The Ocean Linear Virtual Museum - Matson Lines
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